Mitt Romney Takes Credit For The Auto Bailout. Say, What?

Forbes.com ^ | 5/08/2012 @ 11:32AM | Micheline Maynard

[SoConPubbie]

It’s a common thing for a presidential candidate to pontificate about an issue of the day. It’s quite another for one to take credit for something he had no discernible role in.

But that isn’t stopping Mitt Romney. On Monday, in an interview with Cleveland‘s WEWS-TV, Romney said, “I’ll take a lot of credit” for the revival of the Detroit companies that went through federally sponsored bankruptcies.

As Justin Hyde on Motoramic put it, “It’s too bad for Romney that Al Gore invented the Internet so we could keep track of what actually happened.”

. . . . . . . . .

In the television interview, however, Romney takes his role further than just proposing an idea. Here’s what he said:

“ My own view, by the way, was that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And frankly, that’s finally what the president did. He finally took them through bankruptcy. That was the right course I argued for from the very beginning. It was the UAW and the president that delayed the idea of bankruptcy. I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy and finally when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I’ll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry’s come back.”

But where was Romney when the actual work was taking place on the bailout? As far as I could tell at the time, when I was reporting on the story on a daily basis for The Times, he was not involved in any visible way, beyond speaking about it.

[Vendome]

I know what he proposed in 2008 but what he is saying here is that he agrees with how it was done.

I got no problem with the original premise but, in this instance a good many people got in the A&&.

I have several friends who lost more than $1 million and a few lost a little under.

Romney coming out and saying this was his idea without a qualifier is what I disagree with.

If he wants to preface his commentary with why it was wrong then explain how it could have worked under traditional BK laws that would be fine as well.

As I read the article it seems he is only saying “My idea, good outcome”.

Managed BK’s are done all time but this is the 1st one I am aware were the government came in and broke contract law screwing the bond holders(my friends) and in the process marginalizing peoples life savings and retirement monies.